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Bowness On Windermere

I am heading to Cambridge on Saturday so I decided to have a few nights of luxury at a B&B called The Rum Doodle. Ridiculous.

I dropped off my big bag in the morning and then wandered down the main strip of shops. I found a pub to sit and write a few postcards in – The Hole In ‘T Wall.

Sometimes you go into these places and think that if anyone tried to copy the interior and set it up in another country as a traditional English Pub people would tell them to dial it back a bit.

I don’t envy whoever has to dust the place, anyhow.

I bought a couple of second hand books that I can easily leave behind somewhere. The first I’m reading is called ‘The Life of a Scilly Sergeant’ and it’s true stories written by a policeman who was posted to the Isles of Scilly. It’s quite good and reminds me a lot of small towns I’ve lived in. Mum, I think you’d like it.

I had a look in the local church, mainly because it was a little oasis from the noisy bus loads of tourists who clog the local footpaths.

The inside was lovely, with a pice of stained glass that was from the 13th century and hand-painted walls that looked like tiles in some places.

There was a comfortable homeliness to the place that larger, more ostentatious churches lack.

Next I went to the movies and even though I enjoyed the film (I Feel Pretty) I was most tickled by the size of the theatre and screen. There was no way the screen was more than twice as big as our home tv and the elaborate curtains that initially covered it had a real Muppets feel.

Hopefully the exit sign on the side can help you gauge the size.

The theatre itself – nothing about it felt like it had altered since the 60s, even the staff.

After the movie I went to the Indian restaurant next door and had a korma and coconut rice before power-walking back to the Rum Doodle in the rain. I had been wondering if I’d squandered the money I’d spent on my room and should’ve gone camping instead, but when I saw the bath tub I was reassured it had all been worthwhile. All I’ve wanted for two weeks was a soak in a tub – something I do about once a decade at home. Then the bed! So fluffy! So full of springs and so not a blow up or foam mattress!

Like sleeping in a slightly creaky cloud.

My least active day of the whole trip so far but it was nice to read, watch some light entertainment and finally get in a curry. Is it just me or are Thai restaurants taking over from Indian in the UK? I have no problem with Thai food but it seems to outnumber Indian 3-1 everywhere I’ve been so far. Times change, I suppose!

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9 thoughts on “Bowness On Windermere”

A bit of decadence goes a long way! I don’t think I’ve been in the church, the pub or the cinema. I did use to frequent the probably even smaller cinema at Zefferelli’s in Ambleside. I’m assuming that the B&B is named for the novel ‘The Ascent of Rum Doodle’ by W.E.Bowman which is an hilarious spoof of the ‘stiff-upper-lip’ mountaineering literature of the 20’s and 30’s.

Three Men in a Boat is another favourite of mine. I was camped one night high on Macgillycuddy’s Reeks in County Kerry, it was tipping it down and blowing a gale. Both of my companions had to get up in the wee small hours to repitch their tents and were disgruntled by my apparent lack of sympathy as they heard giggles and snorts of laughter from my tent, but I was reading Jerome K. Jerome, rather than enjoying their misfortune.

I recently read that one myself. I love Wodehouse, particularly the Blandings stories, but also Jeeves and Wooster and the Uncle Fred stories. The TV adaptations don’t have the narrator’s voice and so generally miss most of the point.

OMG those wooden trays on the wall above the bed. Last year while selling my dad’s old printing equipment I sold over 100 of them to printers and antique dealers. They’re printers type cases. You’ve had quite a bit of challenging weather but the photos are just gorgeous. Greg and I are both really enjoying your journey 👌

So that’s what they are! This place has wooden letter blocks and all kinds of similar knickknacks al over.
Oh no! The weather has been mostly superb! A couple of days of rain and a couple of days of wind but otherwise it’s been blue skies. The Lakes can get months of non stop rain so everyone who chose this time to come feels like they’ve won the lottery;-)

And the sun continues to shine! I’m up in the Lakes at the moment and it’s glorious. That pub is a bit OTT isn’t it! Have to say I don’t care for Bowness all that much, a bit too old person touristy for my taste although we all used to love playing the mini golf course by the Lake

Oh no, I missed a mini golf course? We have a tradition amongst our friends to play around the world… although playing alone wouldn’t be much fun. Yes, Bowness isn’t the best but there’s a few ok nooks and Brant Fell wasn’t a terrible short walk. I got to Cambridge today and it seemed terribly, almost surreally flat after the last few weeks!